2 years on, teething troubles still: Ahmedabad heritage panel has no teeth

AHMEDABAD: In a desperate effort to preserve Ahmedabad's World Heritage City status granted by Unesco, the heritage conservation committee (HCC) had some months ago resolved that if the city's heritage is to be protected, the committee needs the power to impose penalties to stop illegal constructions. HCC chairman P K Ghosh had said in a meeting held early this year:

"The HCC does not have any penalty clause to deal with unauthorized demolitions of heritage buildings." He further advised, "Penalty clauses need to be drafted and after their vetting and approval, and after the HCC makes its recommendations, the clauses should be sent to the government to make suitable amendments to heritage regulations."
Another problem discussed was that till date the municipal corporation has not declared heritage precincts in the Walled City, though the HCC has identified the sites. Without the declaration, the Walled City has no Urban Design Guidelines (UDG). This means that the HCC cannot suggest to Walled City residents ways to protect the authenticity of heritage precincts. If it could, the HCC would have detailed construction interventions that are allowed and would have explained the adaptive reuse of properties. One HCC member suggested that UDG "should be developed urgently, even before heritage precincts are declared."
In the HCC meeting held in January this year, deputy municipal commissioner (heritage) had requested an HCC member, Manvita Baradi, to help in formulating penalty clauses for amending heritage regulations. A senior AMC official said that heritage regulations and UDG are being worked on.
"If the process for including penalty clauses and for issuing design guidelines begins two years after Ahmedabad is declared a Unesco World Heritage city, why should people be punished for pulling down their heritage properties?" said Pankaj Bhatt, a Kalupur resident, who had obtained the minutes of the HCC meeting with an RTI query.